Three Alabamians elected to regional AHA board

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. –The American Heart Association has announced that three
Alabamians, including two from the Birmingham area, have been elected to key
leadership positions for the 2012-2013 fiscal year.

Dr. Donna Arnett

Donna K. Arnett, Ph.D., M.S.P.H,
chairperson of the Department of Epidemiology at the UAB School of Public
Health, will serve as the
organization's president for 2012-13. Vicki Briggs, chief operating
officer of St. Vincent's Health System, will serve another term on the Board of
Directors for the AHA's Greater Southeast Affiliate. Denise Pippen, a staunch
advocate for public health in Alabama, was elected to serve as the advocacy
chair on the GSA board.

Arnett will also serve as chief volunteer
scientific and medical officer, responsible for medical, scientific and public
health matters. An association volunteer for more than 20 years, Arnett
recently completed a two-year term as president of the organization's Greater
Southeast Affiliate.

"The AHA has embraced a large variety of
disciplines in terms of presidential positions; I am delighted to bring my
background in cardiovascular epidemiology to such a fantastic organization and
to serve in this role," Arnett said.

Arnett received her degree PhD in
epidemiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a master's
degree in biostatistics and epidemiology and a bachelor's degree in nursing
from the University of South Florida. She has more than 15 years of experience
in teaching and research in the area of epidemiology. Her primary research area
is cardiovascular genetic epidemiology.

Vicki Briggs

Briggs was installed as the COO of St.
Vincent's Health System in Birmingham in December, 2011. Under her leadership,
St. Vincent's has worked within the community to highlight the link between
heart disease and women. In January, St. Vincent's teamed up with the AHA's
Birmingham office to sponsor the Go Red For Women movement.

Prior to joining St. Vincent's, Briggs
served as the CEO of the Regional Health System of Acadiana in Lafayette, La.
Before that, she served as the CEO of Trinity Medical Center in Birmingham.

Pippen is an attorney with a broad
understanding of the legislative and regulatory process, having served as an
Assistant District Attorney in Alabama for a decade. In her time as an AHA
volunteer, took a leadership role in drafting and advocating for Shared Use
legislation in Alabama, which is presently being debated in Montgomery. She
originally got involved with the AHA when she found out that her adult daughter
was diagnosed with L

Denise Pippen

Transposition, and will most likely need a heart
transplant.

Pippen is now semi-retired and travels
with her husband doing contract work for the Veterans Administration,
conducting various types of assessments for disabled veterans making
determinations on the feasibility of employment and conducting job training.

During the upcoming year, the Greater
Southeast Affiliate's board will help the organization impact heart disease and
stroke, the No. 1 and No. 4 leading killers, respectively, of American men and
women. The Greater Southeast Affiliate services Alabama, Florida, Georgia,
Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Puerto Rico.

The board will help the association
achieve its 2020 impact goal to improve the cardiovascular health of all
Americans by 20 percent while reducing deaths from cardiovascular diseases and
stroke by 20 percent. A few outlined responsibilities include:

Controlling
and managing the affairs, funds, and property of the affiliate

Approving
all operational policies

Approving
the final annual budget and other fiscal matters for the affiliate

Delegating
the implementation of operational policy

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